Gun owners, ammunition sellers irked at new proposed rules

Phil Peeples looks over pistol ammo while talking about the shortage of ammunition at the Tackle Box in Chico on April 9, 2009. Almost four years later there is another shortage of ammunition as people, worried about new restrictive gun measures such as Assembly Bill 48, stock up on ammo.(Ty Barbour/Staff File Photo)

A recent flow of bills targeting guns and ammunition has triggered frustration from some gun owners, and now another bill has been added to the list.

Assembly member Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, authored Assembly Bill 48, which passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee on a 5-2 party line vote Tuesday.

Skinner thinks there are more regulations to purchase alcohol, cigarettes and some cold medicine than there are to buy ammunition, according to her website. Yet, bullets are what makes a "gun deadly."

Current laws require that sellers of ammunition check IDs to verify age and to make sure it is not being sold to someone who is prohibited from owning it.

AB48 would require sellers to be licensed, buyers to present an ID, and ban kits that alter magazines to be able to fire more than 10 rounds. Purchases would need to be reported to the Department of Justice, and local law enforcement would have to be informed if someone buys 3,000 rounds of ammunition in five days, according to the bill.

The bill just sounds like something that will create a lot of paperwork, said gun owner Sean Evans, 45, of Chico. There seems to be new bills being introduced all the time.

California is "always trying to tell me how to live my life because I choose to be a gun owner," he said.

Some gun owners think the bills are stacking up while the ammo runs low.

The delays to buy ammunition are "ridiculous," said Michael Gray, owner of Chico Gun. People need to come back to their senses and calm down. There's a fear about availability and people begin stockpiling, he said. Prices have shot up significantly because of it.

A box of 9 mm ammo, which is among the most popular, was about $15 last year and now it runs at about $48, Gray said.

Evans thinks the increase in gun and ammunition regulation bills being introduced is contributing, he said. If someone walked into a store to try to purchase ammo in the evening, they'd find the shelves empty. People will wait in huge lines at 7 a.m. in hopes of purchasing some.

Having restrictions on how much ammunition people can buy is not going to help the frenzy either, Evans said. He can go through about 400 rounds a month, but people who go to competitions can go through up to 800 rounds a weekend.

Some people just opt to buy in bulk because that's when they can get a discount, he said.

The information gathered through AB48 will help law enforcement agencies avert mass shootings, according to a press release from Skinner's office.

"Californians should be pleased ... the Public Safety Committee recognized the need for sensible ammunition regulation ..." Skinner said.

Gray thinks adding AB48 wouldn't be efficient, because there are already enough regulations, he said. Customers looking to purchase a gun must sign about 10 forms, which just get piled in a filing cabinet, and might get checked once every 10 years.

They can't keep up with the regulations there are right now, Gray said.

Bills like it have already been tried and they don't work, Evans said. Portions of AB48 are similar to a bill that was passed and eventually overturned.

California Assembly Bill 962 was signed into law by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October 2011, but on Feb. 1, 2012, two weeks before taking effect, it was ruled "unconstitutionally vague" by Fresno County Superior Court.

AB962, which was aimed at ammunition, would have required only face-to-face transactions when buying, required sellers to maintain records for no less than five years and purchasers to register to buy.

According to a University of Southern California and Los Angeles Times March poll, 79 percent of Californians are in favor of requiring ammunition buyers to provide an ID and thumbprint for background checks.

Looking to the laws to curb violence and crime isn't the solution, Gray said. People who want to commit crimes don't walk into his store to buy items.

The bills just make criminals out of law-abiding citizens, Evans said.

California's laws are very restrictive and already require more than other states, but the focus is not in the right areas, Gray said.

A good way to tackle this issue would be to integrate mental health records on a national scale for people who want to purchase guns and ammunition, Gray said. There needs to be a shift to focus on the people buying, not the items themselves.

Guns don't hurt anyone when they're just lying there, he said. Don't put guns in hands of people that shouldn't have them.

"We're not all bad people," he said. "There's a few rotten eggs that ruin it for everyone."